'There was a bit of friendly banter' - Irish Cup family affair as brothers-in-law set to meet in fifth-round showdown
It’ll be a family affair when Coleraine host Armagh City in the Irish Cup fifth round on Saturday afternoon as brothers-in-law Dean Shiels and Shea Campbell take their spots in opposing dugouts.
While they’ve spent hours chatting football at family gatherings since former Irish League striker Campbell married Dean’s sister Grace, sharing experiences of their playing days and transition into coaching alongside current Coleraine Director of Football Oran Kearney, who is married to Lauren, another daughter of Kenny Shiels, the pair know only one will be able to have the satisfaction of progression.
"Oran came to stay earlier this week and there was a bit of friendly banter in the house,” laughed Campbell. “With Oran and Dean there it was a bit of a draw we maybe didn't want because only one team can progress and somebody has to exit the Irish Cup.
"It was one that I could have done without to be honest because there's going to be one of the households disappointed on Saturday night.
"Grace is going to make the journey and both Oran and Dean live close to the ground so we'll probably have a cup of tea in the house and head over. The main aim is to go there and have a good day and be able to hold your head up high.”
Their friendship will be placed to one side for 90 minutes and while Armagh have already tasted success against top-flight opposition this term after dumping Glenavon out of the BetMcLean Cup, Campbell is under no illusions about the difficulty of the upcoming task.
"When I go on the pitch, Oran and Dean will tell you that I'm a different guy,” he added. “I'm a different guy than everybody knows but that's the winner in me.
"I remember going to meet Marty Quinn at Coleraine and I said 'Marty, I'm going to try and mellow because I'm a bit crazy' and he said 'well, if you do that then forget about it because you'll have lost what you're about'.
"One thing our players leave the changing room every week with is hunger, desire and the importance of hard work. If you have that you can go anywhere. We can't realistically go to Coleraine and play them off the park so we have to work our socks off.
"We're under no illusions that it's going to be a difficult one for us. It's a day out and we will go there and give it our best. If I was going down the road thinking we'd have no chance I'd stay in the house...that's not me."
Shiels took over from Kearney as Coleraine chief during the summer, tasked with guiding the Bannsiders into a new full-time era and has had mixed results so far, winning eight and losing eight of his opening 22 Premiership matches in charge, but Campbell has no doubt he’ll be a long-term success.
"When you go into a job like that, fans want results immediately and that's not the way the business is now,” he added. “When you turn full-time it's a big thing and it will take time.
"You see the players they are trying to sign now and it could take two to three years to sort something like that out. You see the likes of Crusaders having mixed results...Declan (Caddell) was a fantastic player and it takes time to put your stamp on things.
"People need to be patient and results will come. Dean is a fantastic coach and still learning as a manager as well, but he will get it right. He just needs time and patience.
"You don't go from part-time to full-time and it just works straight away. They've got a lot of new players in and they’re learning about the Irish League.”